Here’s what you need to know today

• Black Friday set to break records. The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) predicts Australians will spend a record $6.8 billion on this year’s Black Friday sales, up 4% from last year. Over 6 million shoppers are forecast to get in on the sales, spending $804 each despite ongoing cost of living challenges. Take this as your reminder to only buy what you need and always compare prices to ensure items are actually on sale! (ABC)

  
  

• HECS relief for millions of Australians. 3 million Australians have seen the 20% cut to their HECS debt come into effect, worth roughly $16 billion. Critics argue that the relief does not address the underlying problem that Australian’s pay some of the highest university fees amongst OECD countries. (Guardian)
  
  

• Teens challenge social media ban in High Court. Two teenage plaintiffs have launched a High Court challenge against the incoming social media ban for children under 16, set to come into effect 10 December. They are backed by NSW Libertarian Party MP John Ruddick, who has called on the likes of Elon Musk and Google to help support the challenge. (SMH)
  
  

• Regulator caps risky mortgages. Australia’s prudential regulator for the financial system, APRA, just announced a cap on high debt-to-income lending for Australian banks. The new limit will cap banks at 20% of new mortgage lending for mortgages where debt-to-income is over six times. This cap applies separately for mortgage lending to owner-occupiers and property investors. (APRA)
  
  

• Tabcorp offering big bonuses for pubs attracting punters. Tabcorp released a strategy document detailing plans to pay commissions to pubs and clubs for getting people to gamble more. Venues earning over $200,000 per week could expect annual commissions over $364,000. (AFR)
  
  

• Australian AI investment accelerates. Investment in Australian data centres has doubled to $2.8 billion in the past two months. Australia has been labeled a top spot for data centres due to an abundance of land and energy and is now home to more than 100 data centres. (AFR)
  
  

• Mega-deals break record. Global mergers and acquisitions of US$10 billion or more have set a new record of 63 deals. US deregulation and slowing trade wars have sparked a flurry of M&A activity, including the highly-publicised US$55 billion take-private of Electronic Arts by Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. (FT)

  
  

• Chinese tech giants evade US chip bans. Alibaba and Bytedance have shifted AI model training to SE Asia to allow them to use Nvidia chips, which are banned for export to China by the US. Data centres have boomed in Singapore and Malaysia as a result. (AFR)

  
  

• UK budget hikes taxes. UK Chancellor Rachel Reaves has announced the next UK budget, which increases taxes by £26 billion. The increase targets gambling, sugary beverages, and properties, including a “mansion tax” on properties worth over £2 million. The budget will fund a £0.50 an hour increase in the minimum wage (a 4.1% increase) and increased social benefits. (Guardian)

• Storms carry costs for Suncorp. The major insurance provider has received over 10,000 claims following recent storms that hit Queensland and NSW which could cost them $350 million. This is the ninth major weather event in Australia and New Zealand since July for Suncorp insurance customers. This news comes as Australia’s Climate Change Authority reports Australia is not on track to hit its 2035 emissions targets. (AFR, Suncorp)

  
  

• Labor overhauls environmental laws. The Labor government has struck a deal with the Greens for an overhaul of environmental protections. This update comes after years of political deadlock surrounding the regulations. While the Liberal party is concerned for the forestry industry, Anthony Albanese assures skeptics that the laws are a win for nature and businesses alike. (BBC)

  
  

• Jakarta jumps to most populous city. The capital of Indonesia has overtaken Tokyo to become the most populous city on the planet. The UN’s newest estimate places its population at 42 million. Jakarta accounts for 15% of the population of Indonesia, the world’s 4th most populous country with a population of roughly 286 million. (Guardian)

What the…?

Australia’s banks took a shot at property investors in the past week as all four major banks cut down on trust lending. This strategy places debt on a trust rather than an individual, which can allow borrowers to take on high amounts of debt.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has been concerned recently about high-risk lending and overborrowing by property investors. They have just announced a debt-to-income limit for mortgages.

Public scrutiny may have played a factor in the decisions; TikTok and other social media platforms have recently been overrun with videos instructing Australians how to take on “unlimited debt” via trust lending. (Capital Brief, MPA, Yahoo Finance)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today

Our picks from the Sohn Hearts and Minds conference

Ren, Simon and Liv broke down their favourite pitches from the recent 2025 Sohn Hearts & Minds conference in the Equity Mates Investing episode titled ‘Nvidia’s wild swings & 11 experts pitched their best ideas for 2026, we review them’ (Apple | Spotify | YouTube)

Ren: Liv would you like to kick us off with your pick?

Liv: Definitely based off best presentation in the room it was Chow Ma from Munro Partners, and her pick was TKO group, which owns UFC and WWE. Probably a lot of people familiar with the WWE and UFC, but really the pitch was just that live sport is huge. They're sitting kind of at the intersection of entertainment, sport and live streaming rights which are growing. They've signed a new deal with Paramount Plus I think for next year.. That's going to triple the audience.

Ren: Very nice Liv great pick, Simo where are you going to take us?

Simon: So my first pick and it's playing on a similar theme, is Live Nation. So they're the world's largest live entertainment company. They promote, operate concerts, manage artists, and own and operate hundreds of venues. People want to get out, they want to see artists, they want to be part of something. Just look at these global tours. They're selling out instantly and making people like Taylor Swift, billions of dollars. So Live Nation, they're right in the middle of it all.

Ren: Nice one, okay I am going to go in a different direction. I'm going to back a recent guest of Equity Mates, Eric Wong from Still Point Investments. He pitched Morimatsu International, so it's listed in Hong Kong, ticker is 2155. It's a Japanese company that builds modular factories for pharmaceutical companies, battery makers and chemicals. If you are a company that has manufacturing in a location and suddenly an escalating tariff war kicks off, you're in trouble. You can't pick up your factory and move it. But what can you do? You can call up Morimatsu and say, I need a modular factory delivered to America stat!

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